David Sibray
PAX, W.Va. — Few motorists traveling the West Virginia Turnpike between Beckley and Charleston may know that one of the state’s most beautiful trout streams lies hidden in the mountain forests along the way. But now scenic Paint Creek, named for ancient trees once painted blood-red by Native American warriors, is gaining ground as a … Read more
SILVER VALLEY, W.Va. — Is there silver in the hills of West Virginia? Parts of what’s now western West Virginia enjoyed a kind of silver rush in the late 1800s, and many prospectors opened mines, though geologists say their efforts were for naught. Geologists seem to agree that strata underlying the valley of the Ohio … Read more
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University urban forester is developing a method, with the help of artificial intelligence, to identify trees at risk of falling on power lines and causing blackouts. According to Greg Dahle, associate professor of arboriculture and urban forestry at the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, downed … Read more
WHEELING, W.Va. — There was a time when Wheeling was being proposed as the location for a new capital of the U.S., though the idea never attracted much interest. Situated at the junction of the Ohio River and the National Road, two of the expanding nation’s most influential travel routes, the burgeoning city was also nearer … Read more
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Possibly because of a resurgence of ideas about chivalry and codes of conduct, dueling surged in popularity in the U.S. in the late 1700s, especially in the Deep South. Alexander Hamilton was infamously killed in a duel with sitting vice-president Aaron Burr in 1804 as a result of the trend. But dueling … Read more
GEORGE TOWN, W.Va. — Finding the monument on a map is difficult enough. Finding it in the steep woodlands is even more challenging. But on a remote hillside at the southeast corner of Marshall County stands a weathered monument that establishes West Virginia’s singular northern panhandle. Some say it’s a place that at least every … Read more
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge in West Virginia has been named one of National Geographic magazine’s “Best of the World” Top 20 Travel Experiences for 2024. The internationally acclaimed publication selected whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve as one of the world’s top wonders to … Read more
FRAZIER’S BOTTOM, W.Va. — One of the most scenic pastoral landscapes in the eastern U.S., the valley of the lower Kanawha River in West Virginia is attracting the attention of tourists, according to a landscape painter who’s captured its beauty through her work. Thanks to the completion of a new expressway that’s routed traffic outside … Read more
PRUNTYTOWN, W.Va. — If you were an unruly boy growing up in West Virginia before the 1980s, there’s a chance your misbehaviors were met with the threat of banishment to “Pruntytown.” Pruntytown! Any infraction that could not otherwise be dealt with might lead to the mention of the word by adults. For many, the threat … Read more
HUNDRED, W.Va. — There was a time soon after the completion of the B&O Railroad when passengers would clamber to the car windows to catch a glimpse of “Old Hundred.” He was a marvel of a man who, even after his hundredth birthday, labored in his fields to the delight of passersby. The town of … Read more
